Is Staying In Mae Sa Valley A Mistake?

[KelCastro]

We booked a week-long stay in Mae Sa Valley, hoping to relax in the quiet atmosphere, while enjoying some tourism. After reading through some forums and posts online, I’m seeing that a lot of people are complaining about the travel time to places and the costs for taxis (((Is 600baht correct?!?!)))

We wanted somewhere quiet, but we wanted to certainly do activities as well (aka, we weren’t planning on ONLY being in the hotel). We know the Zoo is on the other side of the city, but we assumed some sort of taxi/tour group would take us there and to any other activity outside of Mae Sa Valley, but we weren’t expected the travel to be SO far (we read 45minutes???) and SO expensive.

We’re definitely reconsidering this idea if it means we’ll be traveling every day for nearly 2 hours and spending over 1000baht just on taxis.

Additional Info: Two of us (there’s three traveling) have already been to Chiang Mai briefly and stayed in the heart of the city near the markets. It was nice but not enough to HAVE to stay in the city again. Are we asking for too much here, seclusion and decent location, but not to be utterly bored or broke after 8 days?

Any help, feedback, info is greatly appreciated.

[TommoPhysicist]

SongTow from Mae Rim to CM center is 20bht each, they run from 6am to 7pm.

So going to town in the day is easy.

If you want to private hire one, about 200bht.

Travel time Mae Rim to CM about 30 minutes

Depends where you are staying in the valley.

Or hire a scooter for 150bht a day, then you can go wherever you want for almost nothing.

http://www.chiangmai1.com/chiang_mai/mae_rim.shtml

Lots of stuff to do in the valley itself.

Edited January 12, 2013 by TommoPhysicist

[MESmith]

If you don't fancy a motorbike, rent a car?

[KelCastro]

SongTow from Mae Rim to CM center is 20bht each, they run from 6am to 7pm.

So going to town in the day is easy.

If you want to private hire one, about 200bht.

Travel time Mae Rim to CM about 30 minutes

Depends where you are staying in the valley.

Or hire a scooter for 150bht a day, then you can go wherever you want for almost nothing.

http://www.chiangmai...i/mae_rim.shtml

Lots of stuff to do in the valley itself.

The way the posts I read made it seem, I didn’t think a motorbike was an option. Do you happen to know if these are widely available in this town, or would we need to rent them from the city and drive them up?

[naboo]

If you're on a budget, forget the Mae Sa valley - the most expensive place in Chiang Mai.

[funcat]

Where are you staying?....some of the resorts have their own transportation and rent motorbikes.

8 days it's a long time for one place to stay,unless you really in for some quiet time...meditation,spa etc..

[Johpa]

You will need to rent out a taxi or songthaw or rent your own vehicle each day to get around. There is very limited local transport (only rot puang side cars) and thus you will be paying more in transportation costs in exchange for much quieter surroundings. Look, Mae Rim and the Mae Sa valley are pretty dead at night and most people visit the area as day trips apart from those who wall themselves off in the Four Seasons. FWIW, best local lunches are either the unnamed noodle shop just past the monkey center or "The Beatles" place. Some of the best dinner places are the restaurant by the OPT (AhPaTa or sub-district office), the "Sii Phak" just north of the center of Mae Rim on the east side of the highway, or The Beatles place if open.

[TommoPhysicist]

I beg to differ

Best noodle shop is near the MaeJo traffic lights before Moo-gra-ta on the Mae Rim side.

Sala Cafe up in the hills is pretty good for coffee and food too. Up the soy nearly opposite the water company in the road to 4 seasons.

[WinnieTheKhwai]

Or to put it another way: It's pretty much THE most scenic area that has accommodation and is still relatively close to town. Having your own wheels helps a lot, of course. There is public transport (converted pick-ups with benches in the back), but only during daylight hours.

Edited January 13, 2013 by WinnieTheKhwai

[rene123]

On a similar vein, a friend told me of making a mistake in purchasing a time share in Jomptien. He said the time share was okay, but he originally bought it to be used as an exchange venue. But, when he made several exchanges the resorts were all way out in the country somewhere, and there was little or no transportation to anywhere interesting. It's fine if you just want to sit in one comfortable spot and contemplate your navel for a week or so, but most people get bored with that after a few days. They can do that in the comfort of their own home back wherever they came from.

[justmaybe]

It's somewhat easy to imagine transportation headaches and (eventually) boredom taking its toll on "hoping to relax in the quiet atmosphere, while enjoying some tourism". It is a lovely area.

[bluweyze]

If you're on a budget, forget the Mae Sa valley - the most expensive place in Chiang Mai.

...and this is based upon???

[bluweyze]

I live in the Mae Sa Valley. If you want a city type life, i.e shopping/bars/many restaurants then it is not the place to stay. As a centre for seeing a wide variety of sights and activities in the area it can quite well located. As in most things it is a matter of what do you want.Mae Sa Valley is certainly quiet at night.

[rene123]

I live in the Mae Sa Valley. If you want a city type life, i.e shopping/bars/many restaurants then it is not the place to stay. As a centre for seeing a wide variety of sights and activities in the area it can quite well located. As in most things it is a matter of what do you want.Mae Sa Valley is certainly quiet at night.

Living as a resident and holidaying somewhere are normally two separate issues. People tend to forget that. If you have chosen to live somewhere then most people surround themselves with the things they like. But, if you are on a holiday then it's more likely that you want to visit as many things as possible in as short a time as possible. Without easy transportation that can be a problem.

[KelCastro]

I sure hope this trip ends well! I can’t cancel hotel reservations now.

[WinnieTheKhwai]

No worries.. what's the worst that can happen: Renting a motorbike, which is a good thing to do anyway. (Best to do that in town and ride it up.)

[DaamNaam]

I sure hope this trip ends well! I can’t cancel hotel reservations now.

Just rent yourself a car, easy fix. Can pick one up for around 1,000 a day, or 1,500 for something half decent.

You wont regret it.

[KelCastro]

No worries.. what's the worst that can happen: Renting a motorbike, which is a good thing to do anyway. (Best to do that in town and ride it up.)

I sure hope this trip ends well! I can’t cancel hotel reservations now.

Just rent yourself a car, easy fix. Can pick one up for around 1,000 a day, or 1,500 for something half decent.

You wont regret it.

Thanks I’ll keep this in mind when we get there. The hotel is picking us up at the airport the night we get in. The next morning we’ll probably pick up a motorbike or a car... we’ll see.